Where the Campaign Money Goes

By MICHAEL COOPER and MICHAEL LUO

Published: July 18, 2007

What does it take to run a national presidential campaign more than half a year before the Iowa caucuses? New finance reports show that the candidates are already building up their operations in several states whose early primaries have forced a burst of spending that is severely taxing the campaigns.

The candidates are opening offices in states like California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and others that now expect to hold nominating contests by early February, according to the reports, which were filed last weekend. In past elections, candidates focused their early resources largely on Iowa and New Hampshire.

The filings paint a portrait of what the campaigns think it takes to become president, including the 508 people who appeared on the Barack Obama campaign payroll, the $4.6 million that Senator John McCain paid his consultants and the $300 Mitt Romney spent on makeup around the time of his first debate.

They also provided glimpses of the tastes and sounds of the race. Staff members for Rudolph W. Giuliani seem to like Lisa's Pizza in Lower Manhattan, while the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign appears partial to Papa John's. Mr. Obama paid $1,700 for a band called Double Funk Crunch to play in California, while Mr. McCain paid $1,600 for the Mad Bavarian Brass Band to play in New Hampshire.

Diagrams: ''Where to Stay'' How much candidates spent at Holiday Inn: (Source: Federal Election Commission)(pg. A1); ''Their Tabs, So Far'' The 17 presidential candidates have spent nearly $150 million on the campaign through June 30, according to their filings with the Federal Election Commission. The filings include expenditures ranging from $1.71 at Starbucks to consulting contracts worth of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Sources: Federal Election Commission; the campaigns)(pg. A13)